shake it up: Running with the devils!!!!!

19 Sept 2008

Get drunk in Spain? Check! …finally. We went back to the Chupiteria and I tried one of those big green drinks..I think that was what got me! No worries though, i was with about 10 of my friends!

So tonight the girls and I made some guac and watched Penelope…James McAvoy is so adorable! The guac turned out pretty good, but next time we need to put more spices and peppers and such in. Needed a little more POW!

20 Sept 2008

Today we went back to Barceloneta, but it was overcast-y all day. The sun came out for a while, but I was downright chilly out there! These guys were throwing one of those whistling footballs back and forth and threw it at us twice. The first time, Karen threw it back, but the second time we were pissed and just left it. So this long haired dude came over and we talked to him for a bit after he realized we spoke Spanish. We said we were from the States and he’s like “ahhh, la tierra de oportunidades!!!” Yeaaaaaah. He was from Chile and then he talked about the golpe de estado that happened in the sixties and was like, “un poco de historia!” and then left. What an interesting person. They were playing their guitars and singing very loudly, but it was all good. They were rather normal in comparison to some of the other people who are at Barceloneta, but I don’t want to get into it. Mark cut his legs and feet on the rocks and had to go to the medic tent to put some iodine on it. Since we didn’t want him to walk around on the sand, we headed out to eat, but we bought him some gauze and tape first. So funny! Mark’s sitting on a bench surrounded by 5 girls who are trying to figure out the best way to wrap his foot up. Meanwhile, there’s this group of people laughing at us and one guy was actually videotaping us. Karen made up a great documentary voiceover for it which spoke of the “elusive American pimp who makes his hos do his dirty work while shielding him from the public view.” Oooh Barcelona!

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude, Correfoc was SO awesome! For starters, here’s what La Merce’s guide says about Correfoc (The Fire Run):

“This is one of the most spectacular events of the Catalan festive tradition. Fire and music add to lifelike scenes of hell with dragons and devils. Every summer festival in Catalonia has a fire run, and the capital has one of the biggest with dozens of groups of devils from all over the city and the surrounding area.

Warning!

The Fire Run can be dangerous and every person must take responsibility for themselves. If you want to dance with the devils, you must wear clothing that covers you to avoid the sparks. A cap or hat, cotton clothes and even goggles or special glasses are recommended. Children watching the Fire Run for the first time may become alarmed. Please ensure that they are not in the front lines. In case of accident, there are ambulances at the end of Via Laietana.”

So we get there, and there’s already a bajillion people there already, and wandered a bit. Then we decided we needed some direction and asked one of the cops where we were supposed to go if we wanted to run in the fire and he goes “oh noooooo. You’ll get burned….like a LOT. But its all down these streets.” Sweet. We heard a drum line and drifted in that general direction where we found this big gate like thing and I decided it was supposed to be the Gates of Hell, and it totally was!! So they start shooting off fire and fireworks from the gates and then it begins. At first I was like, “holy shit, we’re going to die!” but I got used to the idea as they approached. It was still terrifying though. Whenever a blowtorch of sparks went out, it would explode, and it was so incredibly loud that I’m surprised I’m not deaf right now. There were devils, dragons, and other scary creatures spewing fire out of them. In between every group was a drumline that played a beat that sounded like it would have been in King Kong when they were sacrificing the girl. SO AWESOME! At one point, one of the devils grabbed me, lit his pitchfork which was throwing sparks everywhere and I got burned on the back of my neck which was exposed. Sadness. But we went through the entire thing, and then went back in for the last of the parade. There were these 2 guys dressed as devils running through the crowd who wasn’t taking part in the fire dancing, but they were whistling and scaring everyone into thinking they had fire. Those mischievous little Spaniards! So afterwards we meandered through the carnival that was a block away while some real fireworks went off. Such a fabulous night. Then we decided to get some cotton candy which was like, 4 times the size of my head. The guys who were making it were all, “we may be small here in spain, but we have big cotton candy!!” Fo sho. It was so delicious. We saw some gelato places on the way back to the metro and, of course, stopped to get some. We ran into some of the Californians who were like, “oh my god, we saw you dancing in the streets—you guys are crazy!!” Hahah! Such a great night (with the exception of me losing my camera case during Correfoc)! It really goes to show how lax Spain is about…everything, haha!

21 Sept 2008

This morning I got up early and made some cheesy scrambled eggs and some toast and jam. Delicious! This morning was the Castellers (the human towers). It was back in the same area, so we hopped back on the train early so we could get a good view. So cool! They had people of all sizes and all ages! At first they had local groups up on the stage doing formations. This one group had the TINIEST person every at the top of all of theirs. Honestly, whose parent would let their 4 year old child do that?! Spanish people are crazy! Then the more professional people came out and did some walking towers. Then the main 3 groups made insanely large towers. The Barcelona team fell once, which scared the crap out of me. I’m so surprised no one was seriously injured. They got to go again at the end of round one, and were successful! It was super hot there though, so we left after round one. No regrets though, they supposedly do their hardest formations first so they have enough strength to do the easier ones as the day goes on. We’re all beat! I saw the burns on my back from last night and I was like “WHAAA?!” They’re fine though…they don’t hurt anymore =)